MV
Rena is a
3,351 TEU container ship owned by
theGreek
shipping company Costamare
Inc. through
one of its subsidiaries,
Daina Shipping Co. The
ship was built in 1990 as
M/V
ZIM America
for the
Israeli
shipping company Zim
by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche
Werft AG in
Kiel,
Germany. She
was renamed M/V
Andaman Sea in
2007 and has sailed under her current name and owner
since 2010.

It was just after 2 PM
in calm seas, on a routine voyage when the aging
MV
Rena would
gain infamy by grounding on the well known
Astrolabe
Reef.

The story of
M/V
Rena was and
will have a great economic & ecolocilcal impact on
this area of Maritime
New Zealand,
but our
coverage suffered an unfortunate break as we departed to
attend the
FIATA World Congress
at Cairo,
Egypt
from Oct. 15 through Oct. 28. We expected to resume this
story, with a full feature, in a about two weeks. If
history held true to form. It did.

While
our feature will demonstrate the current crisis for
M/V
Rena,
during our trip to Cairo the greater danger has presented
itself in terms of ecological disaster. As for the
vessel, M/V
Rena
appears doomed.

47,230-dwt
Liberian-flagged
boxship M/V
Rena (IMO:
8806802, built 1990, 3029 TEU) carrying 25 crew struck the
Astrolabe
Reef and grounded
on Oct 5. Several breaches have been identified in the hull
but no breaches in the fuel tanks. A light sheen of oil was
detected in the surrounding water which is able to be
dispersed easily. No injuries. [From our
Sr.
Correspondent Tim
Schwabedissen,
5-10-11]

Astrolabe
Reef - an ironic
place to ground a vessel

An astrolabe is an
elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers,
navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating
and predicting the positions of the
Sun,
Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local
latitude and vice-versa, surveying, triangulation, and to
cast horoscopes. It was used in classical antiquity, through
the Islamic Golden Age, the
European
Middle Ages and
Renaissance
for all these purposes. In
the
Islamic world, it
was also used to calculate the
Qibla
and to find the times for Salah,
prayers.

There is often confusion
between the astrolabe and the mariner's astrolabe. While the
astrolabe could be useful for determining latitude on land,
it was an awkward instrument for use on the heaving deck of
a ship or in wind. The mariner's astrolabe was developed to
address these issues.

Under the present
circumstances of M/V
Rena,
Astrolabe
Reef is an ironic
grounding location. M/V
Rena might have
been better off using an astrolabe for navigation, but now
there is ample opportunity for
M/V
Rena to use the
inclinometer feature for calculating her
list.

THE IRONY MOST
CRUEL

But the irony most cruel
is having US$800,000 of sauvignon blanc stuck on the
Astrolabe
Reef -- a fact
not lost on the Marlborough
area
winery that
shares the same name. Blenheimwine
companyAstrolabe
Ltd. has a
shipment of 4,000 cases on the 236-meter
M/V
Rena. The wine
was destined for the Irish
Christmas market.
Indeed, officials have doubled crews for the salvage effort
upon learning of this peril for the sauvignon blanc. There
is great sadness in
Dublin, where a
vigil in underway.

We hope
Astrolabe
Ltd had quality
marine cargo insurance -- because a significant part of the
cargo value -- if not most of it -- will be spent in General
Average to save M/V
Rena.
Cargo
insurance pays for General Average claims, to the insured
amount.

Perhaps
Astrolabe
LTD should
have used it's own astrolabe
in planning this shipment.

Maritime
New Zealand says
hydraulic oil has spilt from
M/V
Rena which has
struck a reef near the Tauranga
Harbour on Oct.
5, however the vessel's fuel tanks are still
intact.

The 236m
cargoM/V
Rena, which
carries a
Liberian flag,
struck the Astrolabe
Reef, north of
Motiti
Island, around
2.20 am. There are no reported injuries to the 25 crew on
board.

A "light oil sheen" found
on the surface has been identified as hydraulic
oil,
Maritime New Zealand
says.

M/V
Rena, which left
Napier bound for Tauranga Port, is reportedly on a 10 degree
list, but is stable on the reef. Two of her cargo holds are
flooded, and pumps are being used to extract the water. "As
a precautionary measure, fuel in tanks on the port side is
being transferred to the starboard side,"
Maritime
New Zealand said
in a statement.

"The ship's captain is in
discussion with the ship's owner and salvage experts to
assess how best to move the ship off the reef - this is
expected to take some time."

MNZ's
Marine Pollution Response
Service is
mobilising its team of trained spill responders, as well as
specialist equipment to the site.
Members
of the National Oiled Wildlife Response
Team have also
responded to Tauranga.

The
Astrolabe
Reef is about 4
nautical miles north of Motiti
Island (about 12
nautical miles off the coast).

In August, the
22-year-old M/V
Rena was detained
for a day in Freemantle,
Western
Australia, by the
Australian
Maritime Safety Authority
after "serious deficiencies" were found on the ship.The
authority's report found the vessel had "not been maintained
between surveys", the "hatchway cover securing arrangements
defective" and cargo was not stowed and secured as
stipulated in the cargo securing manual. The vessel was
released after these issues were addressed.

M/V Rena
is owned by the
company Costamare
Inc, of
Greece,
and was under the charter of the
Mediterranean
Shipping Company (MSC).

Lightering operations
will begin on October 10 with the focus of removing the
heavy oil and diesel fuel from M/V
Rena first. A
naval architect is expected on scene and to evaluate if any
other cargo will need to be lightered off
M/V Rena
before salvage can
begin. The tug M/V
Waka Kume out of
Auckland
has been charted to assist in the salvage operation. The tug
is expected to be on scene by the next day.

Greatest fear -- the oil
tanks have been compromised. Over 20 tons of oil has thus
far leaked from /V
Rena --
but there are 2,000 tons aboard.

Four vessels from the
New
Zealand Defence Force
have been deployed for the response, comprising
Rotoiti,
Taupo,
Manawanui
and Endeavour.

Editors Note - 15 Oct.
2011

The saga of
M/V
Renawill be
breaking news for the foreseeable future, as we have
experienced with so many nail biting stories of this type
over the years. Normally The
Cargo Letter
would provide you with daily updates and a flood of exciting
photos -- including many we have already collected.

Unfortunately,
we must depart to attend the
FIATA World Congress
at Cairo,
Egypt
very shortly. We expect a break in our coverage, but plan to
resume this story, with a full feature, in a about two
weeks. If history holds true to form,
M/V
Renawill
remain breaking news at that time. With
M/V
Renahard
aground and her holds flooded -- the big question is whether
this troubled vessel can be saved?

Thanks to
all our loyal Contributors, whose valued efforts brings
depth to the features we provide for you.

McD
- your Editor

Reader
Comments - Oct. 8 2011

From
the various news stories it appears
M/V
Rena may be
leaking some fuel oil while she has definitely already
leaked some lighter oils. New
Zealand
is very proud of its 'clean grean' image as tourism is a
major part of their economy, so the oil leak concerns are
the headline stories in all the local media.

Weather has
been remarkably calm so far but heavier seas are forecast
from Oct. 10. Maritime
NZ
ordered the shipowners to appoint a salvor two days ago
and
Svitzer
was signed.

I just
thought to check the tides at the time of the grounding,
M/V
Renadid
indeed go aground only 27 minutes after high tide. High tide
was at 0153 local time, she grounded at approximately
0220.

Looking at
the images of M/V
Rena,
her forward half seems to be stuck fast, her stern half
still floating. I wonder how, the structure of
M/V Rena
will
cope with that if the heavier seas do arrive That explains
why M/V
Rena
looks so high in a lot of the photos.

Stuart
Midgley - Duck Brothers Transport Pty Ltd,,
Australia

This
Graf Shows The Extreme Degree of
M/V
Rena Hard
Aground

A Crack Is Evident In
The Forward Section ofM/V Rena
-- Evidence of
The Full 21 Knot Groudning

The Captain and 2nd
Officer of M/V
Rena were arrested
in New Zealand. The Captain was remanded on bail after being
charged by Maritime
New Zealand (MNZ)
under Section
# 65 of the
Maritime
Transport Act with
"Operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or
risk." The 2nd Officer, who was in charge of the navigation
watch of M/V
Rena is facing the
same charge. The alleged offense carries a maximum penalty of
US$7,800.00 or a maximum 12-months in jail.
MNZ
says more charges are likely to follow.

The
Tokyo
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) port-state-control (PSC) records show container ship
M/V
Rena was cited for
multiple deficiencies on four occasions and detained once
during the 4-months before she went aground on
Astrolabe
Reef. Records show
the last inspection at Bluff,
New Zealand,
uncovered 19 deficiencies less than a week before the
grounding. None of the deficiencies were new, suggesting they
were a continuation of 15 deficiencies spotted during two
separate inspections at Fremantle
on 21 & 22 July.

 Around 882 tons of oil
recovered through fuel recovery operations on board
Rena
(at 2pm on 28 October). This includes oil from the port side
service and settling tanks.

 1,733 tons of oil on
board Rena
when it grounded

 Around 350 tons of oil
lost overboard off Rena
initially

 5&endash;10 tons of oil
lost overnight on Saturday 22 October

 25 crew on board
Rena
at time of grounding

 35 member salvage team
from the appointed salvage company
Svitzer
&endash; with local support teams and colleagues providing
round-the-clock technical advice and analysis from
Australia,
Singapore
and the Netherlands

Continued Bad Weather Has
Made It Too Dangerous For Divers To Continue Their Work On
M/V
Rena On Oct. 30

M/V
Rena Experiences Exteme
Buckling From The Great Crack In Her Hull

From
The
Cargo Letter -
Oct. 30 2011 - stranded

Heavy seas have
stopped divers from getting to bunker tanks below the water
line after gaining earlier success in attaching hoses to pump
off 1,000 tons of bunker fuel. While 7,500 volunteers
registered to assist in a 30 October beach clean up, only 160
showed up for the event. National on-scene commander
Nick
Quinn said that if
people volunteer, they need to show up for work. Fresh oil is
expected on Papamoa Beach on 31 October. Continued bad weather
has made it too dangerous for divers to continue their work.
Bunker oil from M/V
Rena is still
washing upon the shore, but lighter hydraulic oil appears to be
dispersing naturally. Continuing salvage efforts were suspended
on 31 October. With the forecast of rough weather likely to
mean more containers could be lost overboard, the salvors at
Svitzer
hope to fit tracking transponders to the accessible dangerous
goods containers and other containers thought more likely to be
lost from the vessel. Meanwhile,
M/V
Pencaldo has arrived
on-scene from Australia with the intent of using her deck crane
to offload the remaining 1,288 containers. Since only, a few
containers can be offloaded each day, this remains a race
against time to secure M/V
Rena before she
breaks up.

Yes, there were plenty
of cleanup volunteers just after the grounding, but this year's
October school holidays ran from 8 through 24 October. After
the 25th the pool of available volunteers became much
smaller.

Finally, thanks for your web
site, and keep up the good work. Thanks for your web site, and
keep up the good work.

Jay
Scott

Containers Continue To Wash Off
of M/V
Rena

READER COMMENTS - Nov. 8
2011 - What Was The Warning?

I'd
like to know is/was there anything on the reef to warn boats to
stay away, or did the MV
Rena
run over it?

Benjamin
(Bennie)
P
Mc Knew

Hi
Bennie,

Good
question you ask about warning of the reef.

First,
these reefs are well know n to commercial mariners in the
area.

The reefs
are well marked upon the navigational charts which are
rerquired to b relied upon for navigation and have guided
professional mariners for hundreds of years.

More,
modern vessels carry GPS equipment which warns of dangers
such as Astrolabe
Reef.
We do not presently know the state of equipment on
M/V
Rena.

Salvage divers working
on the M/V
Rena have attached
hot taps to the starboard engine as efforts to empty fuel from
the stricken ship enter the final phase.

A team of salvors pumped
water into M/V
Rena 's starboard
fuel tank overnight to allow the last remaining fuel oil to be
slowly siphoned off the stricken vessel. About 358 tons of fuel
oil remains in the ship's submerged starboard five tank, while
an unknown amount of engine oil remains in the engine room. The
two underwater taps are capable of extracting just four tonnes
of fuel an hour. An Australian
crane barge is on standby to start removing containers as soon
as all the oil has been pumped off.

It is a month since the
M/V
Rena crashed into
the Astrolabe
Reef, off
Tauranga,
at 2.20am on October 5 2011.

More than 350 tons of oil
spilled into the sea, killing hundreds of birds, covering
Bay
of Plenty beaches in
black muck and leaving Maritime
New Zealand with a
clean-up bill that has so far topped A$14M. The
M/V
Rena 's captain and
second officer are facing charges over the incident while the
ship's owner, Costamare
Shipping, has
refused to say whether it will cover the bill for New Zealand's
worst environmental disaster.

Yesterday divers attached
two hot taps to the starboard tank and had started pumping
water into it. Hot-tapping involves penetrating an oil tank
underwater in a way that does not release oil into the
environment. Water is pumped into the tank, forcing oil to
float to the surface, which allows salvors to extract it from
the ship to the bunker barge Awanuia. But a spokeswoman for
Maritime
New Zealand said the
process would be slow. "It's a slow method, you are looking at
four tons an hour and that's running at full steam as
well."

"Considering that the oil is
the consistency of marmite and has to be pushed through 150
meters of hose, this represents an excellent effort," salvors
said.

MNZ
salvage unit manager Bruce
Anderson said dive
teams had confirmed that the "coffer dam" or watertight barrier
under construction to enable access to the starboard tank was
unusable after heavy weather this week. "Given the amount of
time it would take to rebuild this, they have decided to focus
their efforts on hot-tapping."

Meanwhile, another salvage
team was continuing to pump the lube and hydraulic oils in the
engine room into a centralised tank and into
M/V
Awanuia. Salvage
company Svitzer
is also preparing to remove containers from the vessel. The
crane barge ST60,
which is equipped with two cranes, will undertake sea trials
before it is used to remove containers once the fuel recovery
is complete. Svitzer
has engaged another large ocean-going barge from Singapore
expected to arrive in early December. The barge can remove
containers from within the ship.

On shore, clean-up
operations around the Bay
of Plenty continue
with volunteer efforts yesterday concentrating on
Papamoa
Beach. Nearly 8,000
people have registered with MNZ's
volunteer clean-up programme with 25 of those spending the past
five days on Motiti
Island where large
quantities of timber and other pieces of container debris have
washed up. National on-scene commander
Alex
van Wijngaarden said
volunteers had now dedicated 13,000 hours to the
clean-up.

The vessel grounded on the
Astrolabe
Reef near
Tauranga
on October 5th and authorities feared the worst as about 385
tons of oil initially spilled into the ocean, fouling local
beaches.

But in a stop-start effort,
salvage crews began pumping oil in the days after the grounding
while bad weather threatened to tear the ship
apart.

On Nov. 14,
Maritime
New Zealand
announced it had finished pumping 1,454 tons of oil from the
ship and was sending a sea crane to the vessel to begin
removing some of the 1,280 containers that remain on
board.

Calm
conditions have allowed 15 more containers to be lifted from
the stern of M/V
Rena
to the crane barge Sea
Tow 60
(ST
60),
Maritime
New Zealand
(MNZ) says.

This brings
the total number of containers removed to 18, after three were
removed Nov. 16.

MNZ Salvage
Unit Manager Kenny Crawford
said "With every container removed, the consequences are
lessened, but every day is a new day and each container
presents its own puzzle.

"Cranes
cannot operate in winds greater than around 24 knots, so we are
very much at the mercy of the weather. Even if it looks calm,
strong winds can halt operations,"
Mr
Crawford
said.

Salvors have
now fitted 220 transponders to containers aboard
M/V
Rena
and tugs are on hand to provide additional support for vessel
operations.

Containers
recovered from M/V
Rena are
being transferred from the ST60
on to the salvage support vessel
M/V
Go Canopus,
before being brought into port for unloading and processing as
required. Container processing is being carried out by
Braemar
Howells.

Containers
that need cleaning and treatment will be taken to the waste
transfer center in Truman
Lane.
Harrison's
Cut
will be used only for submerged or floating containers, which,
for whatever reason, cannot be recovered by barges and must be
marshalled onto the beach for collection.

Meanwhile,
National
On Scene Commander Mick
Courtnell
said clean-up teams have had a successful few days washing down
rocky foreshores.

"Water
blasting around the Mount is progressing well and teams have
been out washing rocks by hand at
Leisure
Island.
Mechanical cleaning is on-going at
Papamoa
& Maketu
and all restricted areas will be clearly signposted," he
said.

Mr
Courtnell
reminded the public that the risk of another release of oil is
still present as salvors continue to strip oil from the
grounded M/V
Rena.
"The situation could unfold in any number of ways and we will
continue to have teams and equipment ready to mobilise at a
moment's notice," he said.

Sea Tow
60
Astern of M/V
Rena,
6am, Nov. 18 2011

A Total of
49 Containers Removed

From
The
Cargo Lettrer -
Nov. 21 2011 - Container Scoreboard

The work is dangerous
and progress has been slow in the five days since a first
containers was hoisted aboard Sea
Tow 60:

 1,368
containers on board Rena at time of grounding

 814 containers
stored below deck

 121 containers
with perishable foodstuffs

 11 containers with
dangerous goods

 88 containers
(total) lost overboard - 19 of these have been
recovered


49
containers removed since container recovery began on
November 16


Between
7:30am and darkness on Nov. 19, there were 9 containers
removed and taken ashore

 220 transponders
fitted to containers in case containers should become
lost

The
New Zealand Defence Force
personnel have done a brilliant job in aiding the removal of
over 922 tons of oily waste from
Bay
of Plenty beaches.
Targeted clean-up operations continue.

A Sister Barge of
Sea-Tow
60 Shows The
Versatility of This PB
Sea-Towage Vessel
Type

Sea-Tow
60 - 6,000 DWT
Project Cargo Barge

General
Information Dimensions

Yard:
Taizhous
Ship Engineering,
China

Length Overall 85.34 m

Beam, Moulded 24.38 m

Built 2001

Max Operating Draft
4.6 m

Port of Registry, Flag
- Avatiu,
Cook
Islands

Draft Lightship 1.0 m

Official Number 1312

Deck Dimensions 65.8 m
x 21.3 m

Cubic Capacity 6727
m3

Operation

ST60
Is Towed Behind A Tug & Has Been Chartered By
Svitzer
For
M/V
Rena

Towing Equipment

Deck Loading 15 mt/m2

Towing Bridle 76mm
studlink chain

Side Walls 4.8 m

Emergency Tow
Wire

2x
Winch/Windlass Fore & Aft, 15 mt line pull

DWT 6000 mt

GRT 2772 mt

RoRo
Features

Removable Stern Walls
for RoRo

Stern Ramp Rail

Removable
Ramps

From
The
Cargo Lettrer -
Nov. 22 2011 - Container Danger Dance

Since
Nov. 16 2011, the brave engineers
of
Svitzer Salvage
have choreographed a dangerous dance of shifting seas, a
pitching vessel and balanced containers, cut loose from their
stow. This is the "rubber meets the road" point where the
problems of your job is just no longer worth of discussion.
This is where 70,000 pound containers can unexpectedly take
your life.

Bad weather over the
past several days has prevented any container recovery from
M/V
Rena. The forecast
is is for heavy rain, culminating in winds of up to 25-30 knots
on Dec. 4 night, with sea swells of up to 3 meters. It is
unlikely any container recovery operations will take place for
the next few days. Ongoing monitoring of the wreck via
electronic sensors shows no change to the state of
M/V
Rena.

Containers Laden With
Perishable Commodities Are Emptied At
Truman
Lane Container
Processing Site

Seagulls Circle The Drain At
The Truman
Lane Container
Processing Site

Thanks
for your great coverage on the
M/V
Rena
salvage. Someone ought to write a book about this.
Svitzer
is doing a great job! The Smit
Borneo
salvage barge arrived yesterday from
Singapore
after a month enroute. It has a 54 meter pedastal crane that
should speed up removal of the remaining contaniers, as well as
salvage of the hull.

I suggest
that you include a discussion of the law of "general averages"
that may come to bite the individual shippers who may have to
ante up to pay for the salvage. This helps emphasize the need
for the shippers to have insurance, including insurance for the
risk of "general averages."

The
Rena
accident is law suit city! The potential litigation is quite
interesting!

John
Nichols
- Retired Attorney, Scottsdale,
AZ

Crane Barge
Smit
Borneo At
Tauranga.
She
Will Soon Come To The Aid of M/V
Rena

Smit
Borneo Gets Into
Action Ob Dec. 9 2011 And Goes Big On Her First
Lift

Container removal
operations have been hampered this week by bad weather, and a
technical issue with the crane on the barge
Smit
Borneo. A total of
206 containers have now been removed from
M/V
Rena. There were
1,368 containers on board M/V
Rena when it ran
aground and 86 containers are believed to have washed overboard
on 11 October. This leaves 1,076 containers remaining on board
the wreck.

The condition of
Rena's
hull is continuing to deteriorate, with divers identifying
changes to the buckling on the starboard side this week. While
the motion detectors attached to the hull of the wreck do not
suggest any significant movement,
M/V
Rena remains in a
fragile state. While container removal operations have been
suspended, salvors are working on the installation of large
steel patches in Rena's internal corridors, to improve
buoyancy. So far, three of the patches, weighing around 700kg
each, have been installed and another three close to completion
of installation.

Crane Barge
Smit
Borneo Has
Been Delayed By Bad Weather And A Crane
Problem

From
The
Cargo Lettrer -
Dec. 16 2011 - Two More Containers Over Side

Two containers were
lost over the side in stormy weather on the night of Dec. 15
2011.

One damaged container,
carrying aluminium chairs, has sunk. Another floating
container, carrying 18 packets of timber and fitted with a
transponder, is being monitored. Once located, it will be towed
and placed on board the barge ST
60. The search for
the sunken container, which is inside the exclusion zone, will
continue.

Sensors on board
M/V
Rena have detected
some additional minor movement, but there is no overall change
to the status of the vessel. However, it still remains in
fragile state.

206
Containers Have Been Removed Since Container Recovery Began On
November 16 2011

When
M/V
Rena docked in
western Australia in July, 17 serious safety problems were
found, according to new reports from the
Associated
Press. Someone
had tampered with an alarm. The navigation manuals were out
of date. The data recorder was still wrapped in its
canvas.The violations are described in records obtained by
The
Associated Press
under Australian
freedom of
information laws. Inspection reports, emails and faxes tell
the story of how Australia
impounded the Greek-owned
vessel, which like many ships is registered in
Liberia,
but then released it the next day
after
Liberian maritime
authorities intervened, essentially saying the ship was safe
to sail and the problems could be fixed later.

On a calm night 10 weeks
later, M/V
Rena ran
full-steam into a well-charted reef off the coast of
New
Zealand.

Whether or not the
problems found in July contributed to the navigational error
in October or the subsequent loss of cargo, experts say the
Australian
records paint a picture of an aging ship in poor repair and
highlight a dangerous cost-cutting culture under the
so-called flag-of-convenience system.

Costamare,
the owner, declined to go into details about the problems
identified in Australia
but pointed out that the ship eventually passed all
inspections. "We know that the vessel complied with all
necessary regulatory requirements," the company wrote in an
emailed statement.

Two weeks before
M/V
Rena arrived at
the Australian
port of Fremantle on July 21, authorities in
Shenzhen,
China,
found 18 problems with the ship but allowed it to sail
on.

Inspectors from the
Australian
Maritime Safety Authority
detained the ship in Fremantle,
a serious step reserved for about one in every 18 foreign
vessels. They cited problems with the securing of the hatch
and the shipping containers and the overall lack of
maintenance.

Later emails from the
Australian
inspectors show they worried the cargo might not remain
secure in rough weather.

Crew members fixed some
problems quickly. They got hold of updated navigation
manuals, which alert mariners of what to expect en route.
The crew also removed a delay mechanism that had been wired
into a bilge alarm, which alerts them if oil is being pumped
overboard with water that collects in the bottom of the
ship. The ship's electrician could not explain why the delay
mechanism had been added, according to inspection
reports.

For other problems, the
captain turned to the Liberia
Bureau of Maritime Affairs,
which contracts with an American
company to run its ship registry.

The
Virginia-based
office sent the captain a series of faxes on July 21
granting the ship one-month exemptions for some of the
problems. Australian
authorities could have overruled the exemptions but elected
not to.

Records show
Australian
inspectors were particularly concerned with the rusted and
improperly tensioned hatch cleats and the ill-fitting pins
for the cargo.

In one email to
colleagues, inspector Dave
Anderson said the
exemption didn't cite any evidence for the strength of the
modified lashing equipment. "Any old bit of bar made into a
'pin' will do as long as the originals are 'not
available...........,'" he wrote, ending with an extended
ellipsis.

Colleague
Naweed
Omar added that a
photo of one of the modified pins "is not very
convincing."

While letting the ship
depart, Australia also gave it three months to demonstrate
that its safety system was in compliance. The Rena would run
aground before the deadline was up.

"There are always
concerns," said Mal
Larsen, a
spokesman for the Australian
Maritime Safety Authority.
"But ultimately, the guys on the ground, the inspectors,
found it was acceptable."

Scott
Bergeron, an
American
who is chief executive of the
Liberian
ship registry, said the requests for exemptions weren't
unusual. He likened it to authorities giving a motorist a
month to get a broken headlight fixed rather than impounding
the car.

He said the detention of
the M/V
Rena raised red
flags in his office and that
Liberian
inspectors boarded the ship two weeks later in
Sydney
to make their own assessment. In his opinion, he said, the
owners of the ship are generally good operators but the Rena
"needed to tidy up its operation."

The ship passed
subsequent inspections by Australian
authorities in Melbourne
and Sydney.

But on Sept. 28,
inspectors in the New
Zealand port of
Bluff
found 19 problems on the ship, though none were considered
serious enough to prevent M/V
Rena from
sailing. New
Zealand's
maritime agency hasn't released those records, although it
characterized them on its website as a follow-up to see if
M/V
Rena had resolved
the problems found in China.

One week later, at 2 a.m.
on Oct. 5, M/V
Rena was
traveling at high speed when it ran aground on
the
Astrolabe Reef
near the port of Tauranga.
The reef has been identified on charts for almost 200
years.

Bergeron
said the inspection problems identified in
China,
Australia
and New
Zealand are an
important part of the Liberian agency's probe into the
accident.

"There was gross
navigational error on the part of the onboard crew,"
Bergeron
said. "But there are likely to be many reasons why it got to
that point. It could be external influences, or that the
crew was not properly rested."

Captain Faces New
Charges

The captain and the
navigating officer face criminal charges of operating a ship
in a dangerous or risky manner, polluting the environment
and altering the ship's documents after the crash.
Maritime
New Zealand,
which is conducting its own investigation, rejected an AP
request for transcripts of interviews with the captain and
crew, saying it could prejudice the criminal
case.

The captain and 2nd
Office of M/V
Rena remain on
bail, but now face additional charges of "wilfully attempted
to pervert the course of justice" by altering ship's
documents following the grounding under S117(e) & 66 of
the Crimes Act. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 7
years in prison -- with the captain facing 4 charges and the
the 2nd Office facing 3 charges.

The original charge for
both men was under section 338 (1B) and (15B) of the
Resource
Management Act 1991
(RMA), which relates to the "discharge of harmful substances
from ships or offshore installations". That crime carries a
maximum penalty of a fine of US$300,000, or 2 years'
imprisonment, and US$10,000 for every day the offending
continues Both also face a single charge each under section
65 of the
Maritime Transport Act 1994
(MTA), "for operating a vessel in a manner causing
unnecessary danger or risk". The MTA charge carries a
maximum penalty of US$10,000 and imprisonment of 12
months.

Salvage crews are
continuing the painstaking task of removing more than 1,000
20-foot (6-meter) and 40-foot (12-meter) containers that
remain on the crippled ship, which still sits on the reef,
grinding in the swells and threatening to break apart. Three
more containers fell off in recent days.

Smit
Borneo
And Sea
Tow 60
Side By Side with M/V
Rena
In The Background.

282
Containers Removed Since Container Recovery Began On November
16

M/V
Rena
Container Scoreboard

 1,368
containers on board M/V
Rena
at time of grounding

 547
containers stored above deck at the time of
grounding

 821
containers stored below deck at time of
grounding

 121
containers with perishable foodstuffs

 32
containers with dangerous goods


Estimated 89 containers (total) lost overboard &endash; 25 of
these have been recovered

 282
containers removed since container recovery began on November
16

The
Dedication of This Feature Is Simple: To The Crew of
M/V
Rena
And Their Families.

SPECIAL
NOTE:The historic dangers of
carriage by air & sae continue to be quite real. Shippers must
be encouraged to purchase high quality marine cargo insurance from
their freight
forwarder or customs broker.

SPECIAL
NOTE: The historic
dangers of carriage by sea continue to be quite real. Shippers
must be encouraged to purchase high quality marine cargo insurance
from their freight forwarder or customs broker.

It's
very
dangerous out there.

Thanks To Our
Contributors For The"Acute Rena
Failure"Feature

Our Contributor for this
feature is:

Simon
Dutto

Ashley
Black
- UK

William
Cooke
- Hawaii

Todd
Drake

Ben
Gundry

Keith
Hadland

David
Kempster -
Australia

Stuart
Midgley - Duck Brothers Transport Pty Ltd, ,
Australia

John
Nichols
-
Scottsdale, AZ

Jude
Ravo

Reuben

The
Cargo Letter
appreciates the continuing efforts of these valued
contributors.

NOTE:
Please Provide Us With
Your Additional Information For This Loss.

EDITOR'S NOTE FOR SURVEYORS, ATTORNEYS
& MARINE ADJUSTERS:
The Internet edition effort of The
Cargo Letter now
celebrates it's 8th
Year of Service -- making
us quite senior in this segment of the industry. We once estimated
container underway losses at about 1,500 per year. Lloyd's put
that figure at about 10,000 earlier this year. Quite obviously,
the reporting mechanism for these massive losses is not supported
by the lines. News of these events is not posted to the maritime
community. Our new project is to call upon you -- those
handling the claims -- to let us know of each container loss
at sea-- in confidentiality. Many of you survey on
behalf of cargo interests with no need for confidentiality. Others
work for the lines & need to be protected. As a respected
Int'l publication,
The Cargo Letter enjoys
full press privileges & cannot be forced to disclose our
sources of information. No successful attempt has ever been made.
If a personal notation for your report is desired -- each
contributor will be given a "hot link" to your company Website in
each & every report. Please take moment & report your
"overside" containers to us. If you do not wish attribution, your
entry will be "anonymous." This will will benefit our
industry -- for obvious reasons! McD

*NOTE:
The Cargo Letter
wants you to know that by keeping the identity of our contributors
100% Confidential, you are able to view our continuing
series of "Cargo Disasters."Our friends
send us materials which benefit the industry. The materials are
provided to our news publication with complete and enforceable
confidentiality for the sender. In turn, we provide these
materials to you.